Another Life.

Chapter 1

I bit my tongue, I closed my eyes and I tasted blood, all I could smell was burning flesh and hear the near shriek of flesh to the red hot iron. This was barbaric, uncalled for, no one should ever have to face such cruel and unusual punishment, much less initiation. Soon the screaming stopped, I was unsure if that break was a relief or another reason to be ridden with anxiety. My Adam's apple dropped, caught and hitched un my throat, stopping me from swallowing the excess of blood and saliva that had been pooling behind my teeth and lips inside of the black hood. I felt myself choke, gasping as the hood was taken off like a veil cloaking my eyes from what I presumed was hell. My eyes adjusted to the dim lighting with ease, it was soon apparent to me exactly what I had been hearing, smelling, fearing. All of the tools were laid out in front of me, my eyes darted across them all, trying to mentally make note of what I could, embedding the images on the tips of the thirteen different brands so that I would be able to replicate the twelve that wouldn't be on my body back onto paper. The voice of the man speaking to me seemed to boom, his questions sounding like Charlie Brown's parents as I could taste the sudden violent rush of bile up from my knotted gut, spewing between my lips, and out of my mouth. My vision went black soon after and I only remember a spark of sensation and light that made me rigid for what seemed like hours, burning into my flesh before all became a delirious haze of laughter and muffled discussion, blurred vision and the fading blinding pain. Just what in the hell had I signed up for.